Extract text from Color palettes (COLORS)
To convert COLORS Palettes to another format, you need Krita or other Settings software.
To convert other file formats to the "UI Theme Configuration" file type, you need software like Krita or a similar tool.
A .colors file is most frequently a user interface theme used by Krita, the popular open-source digital painting application. These files contain configuration data - typically in an XML structure - that dictates how the software's workspace appears (e.g., Dark Mode, Light Mode, or custom contrast settings). They are not standard image files and cannot be opened by image viewers like Windows Photos or web browsers. A less common but significant variation is the Corel Painter Color Set, which stores palette swatches rather than UI themes.
The primary friction users encounter is the proprietary nature of these settings. A Krita .colors file is useless if you are trying to port your workspace aesthetic to Adobe Photoshop or GIMP. Similarly, accessing the hex codes inside requires parsing raw text data, which is tedious for non-developers.
For archiving or manual editing, the best conversion target is XML or TXT, allowing you to read the internal color definitions. If you are dealing with a Corel palette, converting to ASE (Adobe Swatch Exchange) or GPL (GIMP Palette) makes the color data usable across the Creative Cloud suite.
Convert.Guru analyzes your COLORS file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SWATCHES, ASE, PNG, KRA, KRA~, KPL, CMYK, NUMBERS, HEX and RGB files.
If you want to convert COLORS file to CMYK, NUMBERS, HEX, RGB, JPG, PDF, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, TIF or WEBP, you can use Krita or similar software from the "Application Color Settings" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert RAW, PNG, AI, NEF, PSB, DNG, SVG, GIF, EPS, JPG, ARW or PDF files to COLORS, try Krita or another comparable tool in the "Application Color Settings" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our COLORS converter.